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Friday, March 27, 2015

In commemoration of the 110th anniversary of
the Arkansas History Commission and State Archives, the agency will host
digitization clinics each Friday from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. in its conference
room.

For the April digitization clinics, AHC staff invites the
general public to bring in material appropriate for scanning on flatbed
scanners or for photographing, such as documents, maps or photographs. AHC
archivists will scan and save to CDs copies of scanned material for the
public.Members of the general public
who choose to take advantage of this free scanning service will be asked to
share the digital copies with the History Commission for research, exhibits and
publication.

“The digitization clinic is a modern twist on the way the
History Commission built its collections from the beginning,” said Commission
Director Dr. Lisa Speer. “Through the years, our collections have grown thanks
to the foresight of historically minded citizens across Arkansas and the U.S.
We still like receiving donations of historical manuscripts and records, but we
recognize that not everyone is ready to donate their family papers and
memorabilia. This digitization clinic provides them with an option to share the
content, while maintaining the originals during their lifetime.”

The Arkansas History Commission was created during the 1905
session of the Arkansas General Assembly for the purpose of collecting and
preserving Arkansas’s significant wealth of historic material.

For additional information on the Arkansas History
Commission and these clinics, please phone 501-682-6900 or email state.archives@arkansas.gov.

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Olive Walker (1899 April 16-1984 July 19), daughter of Alexander W. and
Sallie J. Walker of Osceola, Arkansas, married Joseph F. Pfauser (1896
March 1-1977 March 20) of Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 16, 1917.
The couple had two children: Virginia E. (1918 July 20-1984 February 17)
and Francis William "Billy" (born 1920 October 13). Through the years,
Joseph Pfauser worked at a variety of jobs, including serving as a
machinist with Missouri Pacific Railroad, as a Fuller Brush salesman,
and as an insurance salesman for Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He
operated a grocery store at Sixteenth and Jones in Little Rock and held
other positions in retail businesses.

This collection contains correspondence and other material pertaining to
the life of Olive Walker Pfauser. The older items belonged to the
Walker family of Osceola, Arkansas, while the more recent documents
describe Olive Pfauser's life in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Finding aid:

Personal correspondence

1. 1882-1899 (Box 1)

2. 1900-1911

3. 1915

4. 1916 January

5. 1916 February

6. 1916 March

7. 1916 April

8. 1916 May

9. 1916 June (Box 2)

10. 1916 July

11. 1916 August

12. 1916 September

13. 1916 October

14. 1916 November

15. 1916 December

16. 1917 January (Box 3)

17. 1917 February

18. 1917 March

19. 1917 April

20. 1917 May

21. 1917 June

22. 1917 July

23. 1917 August (Box 4)

24. 1917 September

25. 1917 October

26. 1917 November

27. 1917 December

28. 1918 January (Box 5)

29. 1918 February

30. 1918 March

31. 1918 April

32. 1918 May

33. 1918 June

34. 1918 July

35. 1918 September

36. 1918 October-December

37. 1919

38. 1920

39. 1921

40. 1922

41. 1923

42. 1924 (Box 6)

43. 1925

44. 1926

45. 1927

46. 1928

47. 1929

48. 1930

49. 1931

50. 1932

51. 1933 (Box 7)

52. 1934

53. 1935

54. 1936

55. 1938

56. 1939

57. 1940

58. 1943

59. 1944-1955

60. 1956-1967

61. Undated

Personal, miscellaneous

62. Joseph F. Pfauser military records, 1918

63. Pfauser family death certificates and funeral records, 1977 and 1984

64. Postcards (Box 8)

65. Postcards

66. Christmas cards

67. Christmas cards

68. Miscellaneous greeting cards

Legal/Financial

69. Deeds, bills of sale, other, 1873-1951 (Box 9)

70. Poll tax receipts, 1901-1921

71. Tax receipts, 1873-1890

72. Tax receipts, 1891-1910

73. Tax receipts, 1911-1920

74. Tax receipts, 1921-1930

75. Tax receipts, 1931-1937

76. Tax receipts (Oklahoma property), 1912-1932

77. Ledger, "Building Checks," 1907-1911

78. Receipts, invoices, 1894-1937

79. Receipts, purchase of Oklahoma property, 1910-1913

Other

80. Religious activities

81. Education

82. Poems and songs (Box 10)

83. Poems and songs

84. Poetry scrapbook, in "Maury's Physical Geography"

85. R.A. Belcher, 1917-1921

86. Miscellaneous

87. Miscellaneous

88. Certificates and diplomas, 1911-1931 (Box 11)

89. Calendars, 1929 (from Blue Ribbon Shoe Shop, Little Rock)

90.
Newspapers and clippings (including fragments of "Osceola Times," 1926
January 8 and 1943 February 26; and "The Guardian," 1952 May 30)

Tuesday, March 24, 2015

The Arkansas Archivist newsletter for the month of March is out! Below are a few examples of what you'll find in this month's issue. To see the full issue, please click here: March Issue of the Arkansas Archivist

AHC Unveils New Women’s History Guide

Most of us know that Arkansas has had a long and unique
history. Many people don’t always realize that Arkansas women, in particular,
have had an equally unique and compelling past. They have, in fact, been
political ground breakers and leaders in breaking the glass ceiling in the
fight for equal rights.

The AHC Celebrates the Legacy of a Female Arkansan

This month we celebrate the role that women have played in
the history of Arkansas. Arkansas has had many examples of women who have been
leaders in important social and political movements. In fact, Arkansas had one
of the first female mayors, Maud Duncan, in the United States.

Treasures from the Attic

Each month, the AHC highlights an archival document,
photograph or an artifact from the personal collection of an AHC staff member.
This month we feature a butter press owned by Archival Technician John
Freshour.

Black History Commission News

February was a very busy month for African American History
Coordinator Tatyana Oyinloye and the Black History Commission of Arkansas as we
were traveling the state promoting African American history. Since February was
Black History Month, we were in great demand.

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

E.C. (Emil Cornelius) Wehrfritz was born April 14, 1847, at Schwabhausen, Germany, near Bingen-on-the-Rhine. He came to the United States where he resided in St. Louis, Missouri. Following the death of his brother Charles Edward Wehrfritz, who was naturalized at St. Louis in 1858, E.C. married Charles’ wife Elizabeth Berloing on July 4, 1868. In the spring of 1876, Wehrfritz and his family moved to Little Rock.

In July 1885, E.C. opened the Union Machine Works located between Markham and Second Streets. He became a naturalized citizen at Little Rock on September 25, 1906. Wehrfritz served several terms on the city council and ran unsuccessfully for mayor. He was a member of Knights of Pythias, the Knights of Honor, and the Ancient Order of United Workmen. He also was president of the Little Rock Turn-Verein and director of the Mechanics' Loan and Building Association. E.C. Wehrfritz died at Little Rock on April 7, 1910.

This collection contains correspondence, business and financial papers, printed ephemera, photographs, scrapbooks, and information related to the Wehrfritz family of Little Rock, Arkansas, and the E.C. Wehrfritz Machinery and Supply Company and a series of postcards from Little Rock citizens on a tour of Europe and the 1900 Paris Exposition.

Finding aid:

I. Correspondence (Box 1)

A.
Postcards from E.C. (Emil Cornelius) and Elizabeth Wehrfritz on their
trip to Europe and the Paris Exposition to Alex and Ola Wehrfritz, 1900

Tuesday, March 17, 2015

In commemoration of National Women’s History Month in March, the
Arkansas History Commission is releasing an Arkansas Women’s History
resource guide and a corresponding online digital collection.

Although the resource guide won’t be fully comprehensive,
it will contain a large selection of sources from the AHC’s special
collections, including manuscript collections and microfilm collections ,
as well as sources from books, photographs, and printed ephemera.

The
online digital collection will be joining a number of other already
existing collections, including historic Arkansas maps, postcards, a
World War I collection and lesson plans. The Arkansas Women’s History
digital collection will initially feature unique photographs focusing on
Arkansas women’s history with additional items to be added in the
coming months. Photographs include images of Charlotte Stephens, the
first African American teacher in Little Rock, Arkansas women’s
suffrage, female workers at Arkansas ordnance plants during World War
II, war posters and other miscellaneous images. There are currently
nine available resource guides, all of which can be accessed through our
online digital collections.

The Arkansas History Commission, located in Little Rock, is the
official state archives of Arkansas and maintains the largest collection
of historical materials on Arkansas in the world.